Ford reportedly will base Fusion sedan production in China
Mini unveils new, stripped down logo
The premium-fuel secret: You almost never need it
More than a half-million Hyundai, Kia compacts recalled for brake light problem
Tiny carwash used for somehow-serious purpose of testing Nissan paint
Ferrari set to hit new sales goal early to boost profits

Ford is launching its own carsharing service in London called GoDrive to test out new ideas in the industry. It mixes a fleet of Ford Focus Electric and Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost vehicles, and the service allows people to take one-day drives with guaranteed parking at the end.

With gas prices down, that means green car sales are likely to decline as well. TrueCar's TrueSavings report has the evidence to support that idea, with one electric car and two hybrids among the top five in January for the biggest transaction price savings compared to MSRP.

In early 2013, the Nissan Leaf shed a massive $6,500 from its $35,200 base price to offer a new starting price of $28,800. Since then, we have seen numerous other plug-in vehicles get smaller price tags, from the Honda Fit EV (lower lease price) to the Chevrolet Volt (around $5,000 lower) to the Mitsubishi i (a $6,130 drop). Last year, Ford lowered the $39,200 price of the Focus Electric by around $4,000, but that hasn't been enough to get the Ford EV to really compete, saleswise, with other plu

Perhaps a confluence of larger public and private incentives will help EV reach the tipping point north of the border. Canadian consumers are now privy to company, provincial and dealership incentives that could total more than C$12,000 ($11,200 US) for battery-electric cars such as the Smart ForTwo ED and Ford Focus Electric.

Ford has, for at least the second year in a row, teamed up with techno promoter Paxahau and a couple of artists to make music in recognition of the Detroit Movement music festival. This time, Movement performers Ataxia and Secrets were selected by Ford, and were invited to spend some time at the automaker's Michigan Assembly Plant, which gives birth to the Ford Focus and Focus Electric models.

The Nissan Leaf models are the easiest to spot, since they dominate the foreground. But Tesla Model S EVs and Chevy Volt plug-in hybrids are represented as well. Look a little closer and you'll see a Ford Focus Electric and Mistubishi i EVs. And is that a Cadillac ELR we see?

The styling changes to the 2015 Ford Focus were shown off at the recent Geneva Motor Show, so what the EV version looks like is not that much of a surprise. Still, the 2015 Focus Electric is making its world debut here at the New York Auto Show, so we wanted to know what changes we are looking at compared to both the internal combustion engine version and the earlier EV models.

Upper-level Ford executives are sending mixed messages about the power of plug-in vehicles, but in the companies parking lots across North America, at least, the signal is clear: come on and charge your EV.

When we saw a note about a recall for the Ford Focus Electric, our first reaction was, "is that a new one? Because it's getting hard to tell." This year, we've already seen the Blue Oval's all-electric hatch recalled for non-working door chimes and a "wiring incompatibility" in the headlights. The car is also reportedly under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the "Stop Safely Now" issue.

Everything's coming up batteries. Over in Ann Arbor, MI, the University of Michigan is announcing a new lab to test out new battery chemistries and concepts, all with an eye towards building better electric cars. The basic idea is to see if these "experimental battery chemistries" will work on a small scale before automakers and suppliers build a whole bunch of them. The lab is scheduled to open next fall and will be available to "any automotive or non-automotive firm," according to The Detroit

Ford will be voluntarily recalling 23,830 Focus Electric and C-Max Hybrid and Energi models equipped with push-button ignition, according to The Detroit News. Why? Because the cars don't make a noise when the driver's door is open, and are therefore in violation of federal regulations. It's not as silly as Honda's badging recall that isn't a recall, but it's close.

In editor-speak, Ford may have buried the lede here. The US automaker, which sells the Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi Plug-in Hybrids as well as the Ford Focus Electric, was looking to get some press by letting the world know that drivers of its four production plug-in models put on 203,000 miles of electric-only miles a day, or the equivalent of eight trips around the earth.

The feds are stepping in to investigate the "Stop Safely Now" messages that a Ford Focus Electric vehicle driver reported to AutoblogGreen earlier this year. The situation is a serious one, but not widespread as Reuters reports that the NHTSA has received just 12 complaints. Not a big number considering Ford has sold 1,910 Focus EVs through August of this year, and Reuters estimates 1,000 of the EVs are included in the just-launched federal probe.